Members

2022 Lab summer BBQ (10 year lab anniversary & celebration of Melissa's new faculty position)

PI

Chaolin Zhang Associate Professor Email: cz2294 (at) columbia (dot) edu Curriculum Vitae Personal page (old!) Chaolin is currently an Associate Professor with joint appointments in Department of Systems Biology, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, and Motor Neuron Center at Columbia University. Before he joined Columbia, he performed PhD studies at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in computational biology and then Postdoc work at Rockefeller University. Before that he obtained bachelor's degree studying Automation at Tsinghua University (Beijing). As a converted biologist originally trained in engineering, he has a deep interest in understanding gene regulatory logics. From the beginning of his academic endeavor, he decided to tackle the RNA code, i.e., how specific protein-RNA interactions determine the gene output in health and disease conditions, which remains the focus of the lab. Chaolin is a winner of NIH Pathway to Independence (K99/R00, 2011) and Maximizing Investigators' Research Award (MIRA/R35, 2022).

Current Lab Members

	Georgia Dermentzaki (09/2021-present), Postdoc Email: gn2267 (at) cumc (dot) columbia (dot) edu Ph.D., Neuroscience, University of Athens; Biomedical Research Foundation of the Academy of Athens, Athens, Greece Georgia joined the Zhang lab as an Associate Research Scientist in September 2021 after working as a Postodoctoral Research Scientist in Serge Przedborski’s and Francesco Lotti’s lab in the Motor Neuron Center at Columbia Medical Center. There she focused her research in studying mechanisms of motor neuron degeneration in ALS and SMA with particular interest in RNA modifications / RNA metabolism. In addition, she worked in the Project ALS Therapeutic Core as the Lead Scientist for the Viral Unit where she developed and optimized novel assays for AAV production targeting the CNS and PNS in ALS mice models for preclinical studies. Her current research is focusing on the functional impact of neuron-type specific alternative splicing in the brain and RNA-based therapeutics for brain-related disorders. She also enjoys cooking Greek food (being Greek), long walks in Central Park, and yoga/pilates.
	Jessica Estrada (11/2022-present), Technician Email: je2673 (at) cumc (dot) columbia (dot) edu BA, Chemistry, Stony Brook University Jessica received her B.A from Stony Brook University in Chemistry and is a Technician in the Zhang Lab. She assists on various projects in the lab while developing a research focus, and plans on pursing a PhD in the biomedical sciences. In her free time, she likes to go on hikes and cook for friends and family.
	Brian Joseph (11/2021-present), Postdoc (joint with Hynek Witchterle lab) Email: bj2468 (at) cumc (dot) columbia (dot) edu Ph.D., Gerstner Sloan Kettering Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences Brian joined the Zhang and Wichterle labs as a postdoctoral fellow in November 2021 after a brief research experience in Kevin Eggan’s motor neuron lab at Harvard. He completed his PhD with Eric Lai at the Sloan Kettering Institute in NYC focusing on the biology of cotranscriptional RNA processing mechanisms. He plans to explore RNA metabolism in neurons and hopes to identify novel vulnerabilities that can be the basis for therapeutic intervention. Brian is currently an ALS scholar in therapeutics. A native Pakistani, Brian is obsessed with cricket and biryani. He is also an avid runner who still believes the PRs are yet to come.
	Suvrajit Maji (07/2022-present), Postdoc Email:sm4073 (at) cumc (dot) columbia (dot) edu Ph.D.,Carnegie Mellon University Suvrajit is received his Bachelor's and Master's degree in Mathematics and Computing from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India. He then received his Ph.D. degree in computational biology from Carnegie Mellon University under the mentorship of his thesis advisor Dr. Marcel P. Bruchez. His thesis topic was single-molecule localization microscopy and super-resolution reconstruction of biological structures using generative models. He moved to Columbia University to continue his postdoctoral research work under the mentorship of Dr. Joachim Frank, when he focused on developing advanced mathematical, computer vision, and machine learning techniques for studying the structure and dynamics of molecular machines such as the Ribosomes and determining high-resolution 3D structures from 2D cryo-EM image datasets. His current research focuses on computational methods development, application, and analysis to study RNA-protein binding interactions using CLIP sequencing datasets. He is also involved in developing and applying machine learning & deep learning methods to study RNA-protein complex structures. Personal page
	Daniel Moakley (06/2018-), Graduate Student Email: dfm2129 (at) cumc (dot) columbia (dot) edu Ph.D. student, Integrative Program, Columbia University Before coming to Columbia, Dan earned Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Wesleyan University, where he studied the maturation of ESC-derived interneurons in Laura Grabel’s laboratory. Then, he worked with Brian Wainger at Massachusetts General Hospital, where he focused on the electrophysiology of ESC-derived motor neurons. Dan is interested in molecular underpinnings of the immense cell type diversity in the brain. His work leverages both computational and experimental techniques to examine neuron type-specific alternative RNA splicing regulation. He uses the reanalysis of large, publicly available data sets to identify potential regulators of splicing differences across neuron types. These hypotheses are then tested in embryonic stem cell (ESC)-derived neurons.
	Paola Rinchetti (05/2022-), Postdoc (joint with Francesco Lotti lab) Email: pr2485 (at) cumc (dot) columbia (dot) edu Ph.D., University of Milan
	Yocelyn Recinos (06/2018-), Graduate Student Email: yr2330 (at) cumc (dot) columbia (dot) edu Ph.D. student, Integrative Program, Columbia University NSF GRFP awardee (2019) Yocelyn received her B.S. in biological sciences from the University of California, Irvine and is a Ph.D. candidate in the Integrated Cellular, Molecular, and Biomedical program at Columbia University. For her thesis research, she is focused on developing high-throughput screening technologies to understand the role of RNA regulation in the context of alternative splicing and disease. Her work is supported by the NSF GRFP (2019). She also enjoys running in Central Park and practicing hot yoga.
	Xiaojian Wang (06/2016-), Lab manager Email: xw2006 (at) columbia (dot) edu MS, Molecular, Cellular and Developmental biology, the Ohio State University BM, Basic Medical Sciences, Beijing Medical University, Beijing, China Before coming to work at Columbia, Xiaojian earned her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Beijing Medical University and the Ohio State University, respectively. At CUIMC, she worked as supporting staff and lab manager in several labs. She joined the Zhang lab in 2016, and has been providing support on both molecular biology experiments and mouse work, as well as daily lab operations. In her free time, Xiaojian enjoys cooking, watching baseball games, and spending time with her family.
	Yuchen Xu (02/2022-), Master Student Email: yx2709 (at) cumc (dot) columbia (dot) edu Public Health in Biostatistics, Columbia University Yuchen received his B.E degree in bioengineering from Northeastern University (China) in 2018. During his undergraduate study, he was previously involved in research work to study the relationship between TDP-43 protein and Lactoferrin treatment for the Alzheimer’s Disease. He is now a master student biostatistics at Columbia Mailman School of Public Health. In the Zhang lab, Yuchen studies spatial regulation of alternative splicing in the brain. In leisure times, Yuchen likes hiking or visiting coffee shops in NYC.
	Tim Yeh (09/2022-), Postdoc Email: yy2722 (at) cumc (dot) columbia (dot) edu PhD, Department of Biology, Zukerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, Columbia University Tim received his Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from Columbia University (2022). Throughout his scientific career, he has been interested in understanding how the brain works and developing treatment. His graduate research focused on auditory processing in the brain and sensorimotor interaction. As a postdoc in the Zhang lab, Tim hopes to investigate the roles of RNA splicing in normal brain functions and neurological diseases using novel research methods such as gene editing tools and sequencing technologies. When he is not doing science, he likes to play tennis and ping pong. He is also a foodie who enjoys eating pizza!

Alumni

Melissa Campbell (09/2019-11/2022), Postdoc Email: mmc2259 (at) cumc (dot) columbia (dot) edu M.D./Ph.D., Department of Genetics, NYU NIH K99 awardee (2021) Now: Assistant Professor, UCSD

Meghna Gopalan (06/2022-08/2022), Undergrad Summer Research Assistant Email: mg4166 (at) barnard (dot) edu Barnard College

Lydia Wu (10/2021-06/2022), Undergrad Research Assistant Email: lw2892 (at) columbia (dot) edu Columbia College

Huijuan Feng (8/2016-12/2021), Postdoc Email: hf2304 (at) columbia (dot) edu Ph.D., MOE Key Laboratory of Bioinformatics, Bioinformatics Division, TNLIST & Department of Automation, Tsinghua University Visiting Ph.D. student (1/2015-1/2016) Now: Associate Professor, Fudan University Personal page

Suying Bao (06/2017-06/2021), Postdoc Email: sb4045 (at) columbia (dot) edu Ph.D., School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Hong Kong Now: Bioinformatics Manager, Regeneron

Dmytro Ustianenko (01/2015-05/2021), Postdoc Email: du2145 (at) columbia (dot) edu Ph.D., Biomolecular Chemistry, Masaryk University, Central European Institute of Technology, Brno, Czech Republic When existing: Blavatnik Fellow in Life Science Entrepreneurship, Yale University Now: Associate, Flagship Pioneering

Lily Wang (07/2020-09/2020), Undergraduate Research Assistant Undergraduate student, Mathematics/Statistics, Columbia University Email: hw2744 (at) columbia (dot) edu Amgen Summer Research Program Award (2020)

Lekha Yesantharao (09/2017-12/2019), Undergraduate Research Assistant Undergraduate student, Department of Engineering, Columbia University Email: lvy2002 (at) columbia (dot) edu Simons Foundation Undergraduate Summer Research Program Award (2018) Now: Medical School, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine

Justin Wong (06/2017-05/2019), Undergraduate Research Assistant Undergraduate student, Department of Computer Science, Columbia University Email: justin (dot) wong (at) columbia (dot) edu Simons Foundation Undergraduate Summer Research Program Award (2017) Now: Graduate Student, UC Berkeley

Brittany Phillips (05/2018-05/2019), Postdoc Email: bp2563 (at) cumc (dot) columbia (dot) edu Ph.D., Genetics and Molecular Biology, Emory University Now: Medical Writer, Chrysalis Medical Communications

Yingzhi Qian (06/2016-06/2018), Computational Biologist Email: yq2139 (at) columbia (dot) edu M.A., Statistics, Columbia University B.Sc., Applied Mathematics, Fudan University Now: Research Scientist, NYU Lagone Health

Sebastien Weyn (08/2013-02/2018), Graduate Student Ph.D. student, Integrative Program, Columbia University Email: smw2185 (at) columbia (dot) edu Titus M Coan Award for Excellence in Research (2018) Now: Bioinformatics Scientist, Stoke Therapeutics.

Helene Lovett (06/2017-08/2017), Undergraduate Research Assistant Undergraduate student, Department of Neurobiology, Harvard University Email: helenelovett (at) college (dot) Harvard (dot) edu SURF/Amgen Fellowship (2017)

Martin Jacko (08/2013-07/2017), Graduate Student Ph.D. student (joint with Wichterle lab), Department of Pathobiology & Molecular Medicine, Columbia University Email: mj2577 (at) columbia (dot) edu When exiting: Postdoc, Alice Ting Lab, Stanford University Now: Associate Director, Business Development & Operations at Bridgebio

Ankeeta Shah (08/2015-05/2017), Volunteer Undergraduate student, Barnard College Email: abs2218 (at) barnard (dot) edu SURF/Amgen Fellowship (2016) Goldwater Scholarship (2016) Now: Graduate Student, University of Chicago

Jonah Lee (05/2015-01/2017), Volunteer Undergraduate student, Columbia College Email: jl3910 (at) columbia (dot) edu

Andrew Arditi (Volunteer, 09/2016-12/2016) Columbia College Email: ava2123 (at) columbia (dot) edu

Jingxian You (Volunteer, 07/2016-09/2016) Fudan University Email: ykevingrox (at) gmail (dot) com

Jiaye Li (05/2016-08/2016) MA in Biotechnology, Columbia University Then: Volunteer

Kevin Huynh (10/2015-7/2016) BS, Biochemistry/Cell Biology, UCSD MS, Biology, UCSD Then: Technician Now: MD program, UCSF

Joy Pai ( 09/2013-05/2016) Undergraduate student, Departments of Biological Sciences and Computer Science, Columbia University Harvard/MIT HST Summer Institute Fellowship (2015) SURF/Amgen Fellowship (2014) Then: Undergraduate Research Assistant When existing: Bioinformatics specialist, Michel Russenzweig lab, Rockefeller University Now: Graduate Student, Stanford University

Kernyu Park (07/2015-10/2015) Departments of Biological Sciences and Computer Science, Columbia University Then: Undergraduate Research Assistant

Qinghong Yan (02/2013-02/2015) Ph.D., Department of Neurobiology & Behavior, Stony Brook University Then: Postdoc When existing: Scientist, Amgen Now: Head of Biology, FUSION BioVenture

Yong Zhang (04/2013-11/2014) Ph.D., Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences Then: Postdoc Now: Postdoc, Xuemei Chen lab, UC Riverside

Jie Wu (01/2013-08/2013) Then: Visiting Ph.D. student, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory / Applied Maths and Statistics, Stony Brook University When existing: Bioinformatics Scientist, BioMicro Center, MIT Now: Associate Director, Bioinformatics at Accent Therapeutics, Inc.